Friday, August 5, 2011

My Little Night Owl

I have generally been one to be to sleep by 10 pm, if everything goes right. My older two children are in bed by 8:30, or 9 pm, at the latest on school nights, 10 during the summer. They are usually asleep between 9 and 10 regardless.

Then there is my youngest fellow. He has recently started turning into a little night owl. He was up until midnight a few nights ago, 11 a couple nights ago and 11:30 last night. Granted, he sleeps til about 9 or 10 am, but that doesn't help me out much. I can't quite put my finger on the reason that the late nights started.

Last night, I put "Wonder Pets!" on Netflix as something for him to watch as he fell to sleep. I don't think he has seen it more than a couple times. He quickly picked out which pet was whom. The Duckling is my youngest, he chose. Then the Turtle is my oldest and my daughter is the Guinea Pig. The older two children were long asleep before my youngest decided that they are little animals on the show.

It was with great amusement that he would tell me what was going on with the show. He would turn to me in a high pitched, excited voice, and yell "The Wonder Pets are saving the _______." It is fun to watch his little eyes and the excitement in them as he watches the little animals save the other animals. They saved the unicorn, the penguin, the reindeer, the dolphin, and the duckling, before he fell to sleep. I don't remember which was saved in what order, but the Wonder Pets did save each one.

A few years ago, when he was just a baby, my brother and his daughter, my children, and myself would hop in my minivan. Quite frequently, we would start singing the Wonder Pets Theme Song... "What's gonna work? Teamwork!..." that is pretty much all I can remember of the song now, though it seems I will be relearning it quickly. It brought back those memories though. My two oldest used to sit in front of the television and watch Wonder Pets also.

My task is set though. I need to get him back on a good sleep schedule, especially before the baby comes into the world. I know that the first thing that I will have to do is to make sure that the Wonder Pets are not turned on, or Johnny Test, or probably anything else somewhat exciting to a 3 year-old. We may go on a later-than-usual walk, but not after nightfall. We shall see how that works for tonight, as long as their isn't another evening thunder/lightning storm moving in tonight.